Nobody needs compass anymore

SUPPORT ME / pawelspychalski
FPV University Newsletter bit.ly/3I3qnAJ
Many pilots stated that requirement of having compass/magnetometer installed on INAV multirotor drones is something that stops them from adopting INAV as their main flight controller software. Your concerns were heard and solution is here! INAV 7.1 allows full blown navigation without compass! Position Hold, Cruise, Return To Home, even Waypoint Missions are fully functional of FPV drones without the need of having a functional compass!
There are some caveats, as this is still an experimental feature, but once INAV is able to track heading based on GPS provided course of ground, it’s there and it work pretty well!
Next step? Whoop with GPS navigation? Why not!
#fpvuniversity #inav

[@DanielSingerX]

You CAN setup without the compass if you select FAKE in the compass type setup page and set up your navigation modes then turn the compass off (to none) and it will work 😎😎😎

[@iCrazy414]

So if I understand you correctly, you don’t need a physical magnetometer installed to proceed?

[@DanielSingerX]

@@iCrazy414 correct! I’ve done a build from scratch using a gps without a compass and had everything work with navigation modes using this technique

[@Mindauxx]

thanks for the tip. My quad does not have i2c port (mamba f405 fc), so your suggestion is lifesaver

[@Mau_DelS]

this is fantastic, i broke the SCL pad on my Flywoo explorer and didn't want to buy a new FC just for it, my only hope was waiting for INAV to make resource mapping in CLI...

[@Mindauxx]

@@DanielSingerX I have tried that, but when I set magnetometer to FAKE, i get red flag on mag sensor and still cannot proceed and set the nav modes (pozhold, rth, cruz). What should I do?

[@VolodymyrMoon]

Not even sure who are more happier Pawel or community 😂 Good job, long live iNAV

[@FPVUniversity]

Happy flying!

[@Belrmar]

This is beautiful,im. Moving to inav!

[@FPVUniversity]

Happy flying!

[@frasersteen]

Now make the GPS work with just the compass! 😂

[@FPVUniversity]

lol

[@johnmoser1162]

How do you think navigation happened before GPS ... 🙂 ... google "dead reckoning". Still required know how if you want to pass a basic boating or pilot license (in many countries).

[@flat-earther]

@@johnmoser1162 hi johnmoser, have you become a flat earther yet? If not I suggest viewing the 13 part series _what on earth happened_ in my about to learn how the earth is not a globe

[@johnmoser1162]

@@flat-earther My answer got censored ... 🙂 ... guess ppl just dont get it that dead reckoning is the solution in Ukraine ... [edit: may be you should look at a (paper) map and wonder why the earth suddenly has become flat ... 🙂 )

[@jiatan_fpv]

That's how ballistic missile guidance works :)

[@stst8301]

Magnetometer makes the flight controller work better and the autonomous modes are accurate.

[@FPVUniversity]

yes, that is absolutely correct. Happy flying!

[@hanfo420]

„it‘s not perfect“ is an understatement. there is up to a 69° difference 😂

[@jaysonrees738]

This really helps. I keep wanting to put my GPS/compass module in a higher place, but all of the places I'm looking at potentially create electromagnetic fields. Being able to skip that concern would be a huge benefit!

[@choppergirl]

As long as your quad is moving laterally, it should be able to compute from it's last couple of GPS position recordings which heading it is going fairly closely, even in a curve turn, if it does the right math to compute the curve. It's only when you are hovering and yawing around that you would need a compass.

[@zoopp539]

For a second here I was under the impression that this was some elaborate April 1st prank.

[@sigterm15]

but it is

[@FPVUniversity]

Nope, real deal. happy flying!

[@sompongpire3027]

Well, that's good. My GPS module have built-in compass anyway but not having to run 2 more wire is always a plus.

[@elxero2189]

Veyr nice ill stick with the mag though

[@andytean5906]

Good news, especially for owners of smaller quads where there's usually not enough space to keep the magnetometer away from the high current electrics.

[@andreafabbro7844]

this - is - amazing! can't wait to try it!

[@GuyA]

Very cool. Thank you ! Now please make bi-copter setup. Thank you

[@olafschermann1592]

Awesome!

[@FPVUniversity]

Glad you think so!

[@EnglishTurbines]

The irony here is, most GPS now come with compass onboard AND a ready to use cable..plug and play. Even the plug sockets are six pin for the Mag...Now you want to ditch it?....Back in iNAV 4.0 I was using a Mag on my quad. RTH and Autolanding all worked perfect including Position hold....My problem is, all my quads fly better overall using BF...The irony eh?....😳😮😀🇬🇧 All my planes are iNAV..😏

[@ugpfpv361]

What characteristics are better with bf over iNav, I'm just looking to use it for LR so no freestyle, is it as stable for just doing cinematic shots? Thanks

[@ayoaina_fpv]

On small quad builds, you sometimes have to go to great lengths to achieve enough physical separation b/w the compass and other electronics to ensure there’s no interference. So mag-free navigation is very welcome! 😊

[@EnglishTurbines]

@@ugpfpv361 The quad flies smoother on BF, but if you want a reliable RTH iNAV is a good choice for a LR quad. The other thing is motors. On iNAV you can't use Dshot 300 or 600 without risking motor overheating I found. Be very careful. Short hover trials and check motor temps. I'm sure PID tuning will fix it but BF just works out the box I find...My GPS is mounted on a small printed pillar above the HD FPV Camera about 60mm high... Fast GPS lock and 26 Sats is normal for me...Set the Compass and check it's seeing North correctly using the numeric heading...🤔😳😏🇬🇧

[@dronesluveco386]

I love you pawel!

[@EnglishTurbines]

If the quads moving, it knows where North is... I knew this years ago...lol...😏😀🇬🇧

[@Sam-gr8pl]

Congratulations.....🎉

[@FPVUniversity]

Happy flying!

[@Mupshot]

Bingo. I was going to tear apart my HD Rekon3 but now if it doesnt need SCSD I want to see how it handles INAV.

[@Mau_DelS]

THIS IS ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ hope to have the cofiguration working without magnetometer as well to have a full compatibility with most of the GPS drone coming out or in the hope the manufacter will start use a gps+compass units

[@FPVUniversity]

This has a chance to be fully enabled in INAV 8 later this year

[@Mau_DelS]

@@FPVUniversity thank for the hard work of everyone Pavel! this is a fantastic information!

[@dcliffe8539]

hello Pawel, I found a 1-2S TAKER F411 flight controller with a barometer which was amazing and now that you don't need a compass, I was going to use it in inav7.1 as it is the last inav for F411flight controllers. I looked in Inav firmware flasher and there is only a TAKER722SE, is it possible to get firmware for TAKER F411?

[@Eugenue]

Cool!

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting indeed! Thanks, Pawel! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@FPVUniversity]

Thank you! Will do!

[@LostCloudx4]

I have a compass & hope to use it in conjunction with the GPS. I'm seeing many videos of the new INAV having many issues in flight modes :/

[@duncandrake2580]

But seriously, since it costs so little.. why not install the magnetomer?

[@FPVUniversity]

You have to ask pilots that prefere, for unknown reasons, not to

[@MarcFPV]

because it allows the build of tiny quads with GPS that don't need to install a heavy and long pole to get the compass away from power wires.

[@fluoxethine]

IMO it should warn user depending on the quality of accelerometer and gyroscope

[@MarcFPV]

That's why its experimental :) But feel free to open a feature request on github for that. Its a good idea.

[@NorthIceMan]

It doesn't take very complicated math to calc direction with a good GPS (two points-just ONE line). So, will you pressure the GPS manufacturers to omit the unnecessary compass and drop the price of those units (like a great M10 without the compass)?

[@fluoxethine]

And what about the UWB positional tracking?

[@SHOGANAI55]

I know there are several videos out there to convert from betaflight to INAV. I have spredybee master 5 V2. After installing INAV my quad flip flop like fish out of water / crashed Can you do a video update how to install and set INAV on speedybee master 5. Thank you 🙏

[@lalbabugupta8380]

So it's good time to add obstacles avoidance?

[@FPVUniversity]

Niah, not needed I think

[@modquad18]

But don’t you give up some degree of reliability by deleting mag?

[@FPVUniversity]

Yes you do. This is a tradeoff. But you don't have to give up mag. Magless is only an option

[@Mr.Laidukas]

What is the best iNav FC to buy today for long range quad? standard 30x30 size. Looking for one to buy. Subscribed to the newsletter!

[@FPVUniversity]

Depends. I have all my bug drones made with Matek H743-Slim for example

[@highwaltage]

rejoice!

[@Dynamitry]

Your prononciation with your excited explanation is so AWESOME! No matter what you trying to explain.

[@FPVUniversity]

Happy flying!

[@DarthPlasma]

When the sanity check on the compass fails, INAV 7.1 falls back on magnetometer-less navigation?

[@MarcFPV]

yes, that was the main intention, to have safety for sensor failures. The mag-less operation is a lucky side effect.

[@tomaszsz757]

Czesc Paweł. Mam taki przypadek - dron wpada mi w toilet bowl mimo, ze na poczatku latalem po prostej, nawet povparu minutach latania w position hold lub RTH ciagle wpada w toilet bowl. Pomaga tylko wyłądowanie i ponowne uzbrojenie silnikow, po wystartowaniu w position hold trzyma sztywniutko. W czym moze byc problem?

[@FPVUniversity]

to magnetometr. Lub zbyt silne wibracje. Ale pewnie magnetometr

[@tomaszsz757]

@@FPVUniversity Mam gps bez kompasu. Dziwne że po wylądowaniu i ponownym starcie już tego nie ma.

[@FPVUniversity]

@@tomaszsz757 Sensor Fusion się resetuje. A skoro nie masz kompasu podejrzewam zbyt dużo wibracji i IMU wariuje

[@tomaszsz757]

@@FPVUniversity FC jest na gumowych antywibracyjnych mocowaniach, śmigła nowe, silniki nowe. Fizycznie trudno mi znaleźć coś do poprawki. Czy ustawienia dynamicznych filtrów by coś poprawiło?

[@jamesmason7124]

Or you can just pay the extra 2 dollars and get the version of GPS with compass

[@MarcFPV]

plus add a pole or a back-facing selfie stick to get the GPS far enough away from Power wires to actually work ;)

[@Mau_DelS]

i think the problem isn't the price, most kwad come with GPS preinstalled, maybe they don't know how to solder or the FC doesn't have scl sda pad for the compass or (like me) are very dumb and break the pads while try to solder the cables XD

[@user-st9bo4sh6e]

It is not the price, but the GPS installation method of many drones can not avoid magnetic field interference.

[@extraace]

I assume this isn't going to work in windy conditions since the groundtrack will be pretty skewed? I fly in up to 90kph winds quite a bit recording kiteboarding and windsurfing.

[@FPVUniversity]

Nope, it won't work well with strong sidewind indeed

[@extraace]

@@FPVUniversity ok, thanks!

[@m3chanist]

How fast is the heading estimation, or should I say, how far do you need to move before it gets a decent lock and how often does the facing lock refresh?

[@MarcFPV]

if you look at the video.... maybe 20-30m? better 50m to be sure.

[@cervellimatteo]

barometer is a fundamental feature for the INAV RTH, position and more?

[@FPVUniversity]

INAV can work without baro for years, but it's highly advised to have one and it increases accuracy by a considerable factor. GPS is not very precise in terms of altitiude

[@khild]

I just installed 7.0 on fresh F405 wing mini from Speedybee. No gps connected. It shows almost correct heading north anyway in orientation settings. What gives?

[@MarcFPV]

when you power up the FC it will always set the yaw direction to 0° and then use the gyro from there. It does not matter in what direction the craft "looks". It will always show north when powered up.

[@ImperialArmour]

Speaking of reasons to use BF, what's stopping Inav from using the same accelerometer calibration method as Bf?

[@FPVUniversity]

you mean the inferior one with only 1 axis calibrated that is basically useless when ACC is to be use for position estimation? That one?

[@ImperialArmour]

​@@FPVUniversity Idk how many axes it calibrates, but in angle mode it's more level than the manual calibration i managed to get with Inav.

[@Terry_Fritz]

Should I calibrate the magnetometer on my quad with or without the battery in place? (Asking for a friend).

[@FPVUniversity]

With,

[@jlashbo]

I don’t think that was documented. It still states t hav gps and compass for the best navigation.

[@FPVUniversity]

Becuase it's recomended for best performance

[@ugpfpv361]

Now accurate is it in the landing position comparing with compass and without?

[@FPVUniversity]

That depends on how clean gyro traces are, how good heading estimate was in the beginning and a few other things. In general, with mag is more presice. By how much, you have to check by yourself

[@stefanozanna1988]

magnetometer (aka Compass) is a bitch! Finally good news inav users who don't always take off from a field in the middle of nowhere!

[@piotrwojtas3501]

Czy to znaczy że inav 7.1 wcale nie używa kompasu? Inav 7.1 przestał wspierać nawigację opartą o czujnik magnetometru?

[@FPVUniversity]

Używa jak ma. A jak nie ma to nie używa a dalej wszystko działa

[@piotrwojtas3501]

Dzięki za szybką odpowiedź.

[@hishamghosheh9613]

Will the accelerometer eventually become not supported (like in Betaflight) or will it always be useful as one source of data?

[@ourchannel8215]

i'm used on betaflight 4.4.2 just for fun...it work witout compass...😂😂...i think no gps is ok for me...why????? becouse im freestyle only 😅...not longrange ...longrange for rich people

[@ourchannel8215]

now earth gravity is crazy...dont used magnetometer!!... using flight tracking is more accurate

[@FreeBirdFPV]

Now need only compass for navigate then gps jamer on in Ukraine

[@FPVUniversity]

that will not really happen

[@angelnunez6476]

gps jammers mess with agnetic fields so no

[@FPVUniversity]

@@angelnunez6476 This is not how GPS jammers work

[@angelnunez6476]

@@FPVUniversity Its a side effect of them. Its already been a problem for aircraft flying in these zones due to the lack of gps and wonky compass readings.

[@skelethornbro]

Hi Pawel. Does Inav Vtol can use this compass-less feature too?

[@FPVUniversity]

yes, it's platform agnostic

[@skelethornbro]

@@FPVUniversity great. Thanks!

[@jamesbaker223]

so you have to rely on a third party by sacrificing the self reliance? stick with compass.

[@callmealex7849]

Hello FPV University, Is it possible to setup a VTOL like Tom Stanton in Inav? If you have not seen the video: In Vertical mode it should act like a normal Bicopter, but in forward flight its Yaw-axis should be controlled by differential thrust, the Roll-axis by tilting the servos (moving the right one up and the left one down would create a left roll) and the pitch-axis by a elevator. Best regards

[@johnmoser1162]

What we have learned from Ukraine war is, GPS is more likely not to available then the good old magnetic compass.

[@angelnunez6476]

Gps jammers mess with magnetic fields rendering magnetic compasses useless

[@johnmoser1162]

@@angelnunez6476 Ha ha ha ha ha ... I guess you should go back to basic school ...

[@angelnunez6476]

@@johnmoser1162 I bet you should go learn about how electronic warfare works and what it does to the electromagnetic spectrum in order to jam or spoof gps signals. Something you will not learn in school :)

[@johnmoser1162]

@@angelnunez6476 I have a masters in EE ...may be you should make yourself familiar with Maxwell's equations. To affect a magnetic field in lets say 50km distance you need a super strong magnetic source ... even a child could build a missile to strike that source ... 🙂 ... with a compass to direct the missile ... ha ha ha.

[@angelnunez6476]

@@johnmoser1162 "even a child could build a missile to strike that source"- Yeah there called HARMS and destroy the source of this EM disturbance. These weapons do not use compasses and instead use inertial navigation and seeker designed to find these devices. So you can try to outsmart me on this but you should know that these devices are much more powerfull than you think. Some go further than 100 miles (wich is over 3 times farther than 50km) and have proven troublesome for Aircraft flying with compasses, making them reliant on guidence using gps or INS.

[@PiotrMarkiewicz]

April 1st joke?

[@FPVUniversity]

nope, real deal

[@loutwice]

April fool ?

[@grimripperrr]

Lmao haha

[@FPVUniversity]

nope, real deal

[@sigterm15]

still underdog compared to ArduCopter

[@FPVUniversity]

Function wise? Yes. User friendliness wise? Man, Mission planner gives you so much emotions... Funny fact, INAV does not even try to compete with ArduPilot in terms of advanced navigation features. We close the gap, but have so much more areas when INAV just shines comparing to Ardu

[@voxtelnismo]

Moving to INAV because of the best in class GPS-enabled modes: 🫷😒 Moving to INAV because of Unicorn filter: 👈😏 Moving to INAV because it kills fewer people per year than Ardupilot: 🤯

[@FPVUniversity]

Happy flying!